Two days had passed since I woke up in [The Codex], and so far I had only kept learning the basics from Liselotte. We hadn't gone too deep into the teachings as we opted to get to know each other a little better first.
And in short, Liselotte's life before coming here is quite interesting.
Starting with the fact that she comes from Zawar Orcubalis, a dead nation that perished during the time when [The Calamity] was being hunted, so it was to be expected that something like this would happen.
As a child, she was perfectly gifted in the magical arts, which allowed her to develop quite a reputation as she grew up.
Nowadays, she is the last one left of Zawar Orcubalis after its destruction at the hands of Enigma, she herself said that she holds no grudge against Enigma since the conditions of the world at that time were different.
I was impressed in the first place to know that she is so benevolent as that, and even tried to befriend Enigma even though the other side flatly refuses to accept her friendship.
They called it... Stockholm Syndrome - is that what Liselotte suffers from with regard to Enigma?
But by the same token, Liselotte has spent most of her long life in this library, enriching her knowledge. And the older her soul became, the denser the manna in her has become.
-All right, today we start with your first lesson. History of the world. From what point in history do you have knowledge?
-Mm... From [The Antiquity]...
-Wow, this is going to be a long one!
-But of course, I know the basics to understand everything, "Entity No.0", and the creation of this world. Olivia had already told me about it. I also learned about the different regions of the world and the monetary system of all the kingdoms. -. I say, with a smile on my face.
-It would be more productive if you ask me specific questions about what you want to know.
Oh, I hadn't thought of that.
Well...
-What are the [Gods]?
-Too open-ended a question, since there are several types of [Gods]...
-Ah, focus on the main ones.
-In that case, we're talking about three deities, Kýena, Æther and Frill.
-Of Kýena I have heard... but of the other two I had no idea at all.
-Maybe I'll explain it to you. -. She says, adjusting her glasses a bit, and then continues in the same tone of voice: -It is speculated that they are beings that come from another reality just to interfere with ours and take over this one.
Uh...
-In this world, which we call 'Gamma', we place three gods as the main ones in our pantheon. These are the [Goddess of Reality] - Kýena, the [God of Mana] - Æther, and the [Goddess of Life], Frill.
Liselotte is writing these things down on parchment using ink to explain to me, the good side is that I had already had an intensive language lesson, so I can read the words of the fairy language.
-Kýena was the one who designed this world to be fit to possess life and basically, as [System's Remnant] she is your mother. Everything about the system was devised by her.
-It doesn't motivate me to think of my mother as a goddess...
-No one, really. Well, then there's Æther, who is the greatest of the [Magical Gods], this is the one who gave all of us the ability to manifest magic and skills. Also, he is responsible for creating all the connection of the magical threads that correspond to your magical flow.
-Wow, wow, that was too much information all at once. Can't you explain it simply?
-Mmm... If I keep it simple, we can say that Æther is the father in magic of us all. Thanks to him, you have immortality and I can destroy it, understood?
-Yes!
-Anyway, I'll leave you these notes in case there's something you didn't fully understand, OK?
[NOTE: Read 'Gods' entry in glossary if you want learn more about this topic]
-Thank you very much, Liselotte.
-You're welcome. Let's move on. So, Frill is the one who made it possible for life to be consistent and for us to have a cycle of existence. The [Law of Life] and [Law of Death] were created by her. If it is because of Æther that I can destroy your soul, then it is because of Frill that there is something to destroy in the first place.
-Our souls were created by her. That's what I understand. I understand the theory, every living thing with a physical body possesses a soul.
-That's right. And all this was... just for the stupid idea of making us like them. But at the end of the day, we're just their bloody pawns in a gigantic, meaningless game. As if we only exist to entertain them.
...
Liselotte sounded very upset about that and I don't blame her.
Thinking about it that way, it might be true. This world resembles an RPG game, the only difference being that there are no save points and a death is irremediable unless certain conditions are met.
I don't know what I could say about it... because there really isn't much a foreigner like me can say. Especially to someone who has lived for a millennium in this world.
-Do you want something to eat, Liselotte?
-Eat...? I don't need to get nutrients from any source, I'm not going to grow anyway.
-I know, I know. I just thought you might like the idea of trying something. When was the last time you ate?
-I gave up the desire to eat two years after I became [Lich].
-So it's been an enormous amount of time! I really couldn't go that long without a meal.
-? Elise, have you never tasted human blood?
-Olivia Cross was my first time...
-Don't say it in such an indecent way, I understand! But once you tasted human blood you were supposed to lose any desire to eat anything else.
-Well, I don't know, I've loved eating since day one in this world. Besides, to be honest, human blood sucks...
-Really... you're an exceptional case!
Liselotte gets up from the table, hitting it with her hands. That took me a bit by surprise, but I have no problem hiding it.
I can see her face suddenly light up, which means she's excited by what I said. Well, it's true, I didn't like my first time consuming human blood.
Especially the part where I lost like half my organs and then had to go to a fight to the death...
Ugh, that's a traumatic memory...
-W, what happend, Liselotte...? -. I ask with a little hesitation.
She takes me by the shoulders, and says to me:
-It would be my first time eating with a friend! Please, let's eat together, Elise!
-Of course... you shouldn't have told me basically by shouting...
I reach into my [Inventory], and from inside, I pull out some dried meat that I prepared earlier. A large salt-cured boar leg is what I put on the table.
I also take out some cutlery that I asked Uldricth to make for me, it was curious as he claims never to have made anything similar, but he had no trouble at all making it.
-Oh, I haven't seen these for ages! Spoons, forks, and table knives! What are they made of?
-Alloy of iron and aluminium.
-Strength and flexibility, I see!
Finally, I pull out my [Elfic Dagger], to start cutting small portions of this ham. It's been cured for about a month, and it's amazing in my opinion.
-Elise, Elise!
-What's going on?
-I'm going out for a moment, I'll be right back!
-Ah, ok...
As soon as I made my confirmation, Liselotte opened a [Teleport] door, I don't know to which location...
She can get out of this dungeon, that's what I know. She just has to hide her left hand so she won't be marked as a suspect of something.
Maybe she doesn't interfere with the flow of the dungeon in a direct way, but she doesn't mind getting out of here from time to time when she wants to do something else.
Come to think of it... I don't even know the night sky of this world...
-I'm back!
-Hyah...!
Now she scared me completely, as her face appeared directly next to mine. Liselotte finishes exiting the teleport door and puts some objects on the table.
Uh...
Tomato, onion, lettuce, bread, chicken eggs...
-Make me a sandwich, Elise!
-Oh. Oh, that's all right. Just give me a moment.
Almost mechanically, I quickly cut the bread, which I use to put the cut vegetables on in a single moment. I also put some of the cured ham on top of the vegetables.
In the times I kept myself in the tavern to plan the coup against Orphelia, I learned a thing or two from old Albert. Eggs and lemon in a dish, and then shake them for a while in a bowl to create mayonnaise. The lemon I already had in my [Inventory].
I correct the acidity a bit by using salt... and it's perfect.
-Oh, what's that, Elise! You turned the eggs into a white sauce!
-Ah, it's called mayonnaise... it's a great invention, as well as cheese.
-Cheese...?
-Yes, a milk derivative. You can make it with almost any kind of milk.
-I've never heard of that! Do you have any with you?!
-Of course.
From my [Inventory] I now take out a piece of smoked cheese... uh, I don't remember what milk it's made from, but it's delicious and it can melt.
I finish assembling the sandwiches, putting a nice slice of cheese on both and activating [Flaming Reinforcement] to melt it in my hands. Once the cheese almost falls off because of how melted it is, I pass it to Liselotte.
She receives it, with an even brighter expression than before. And she doesn't hesitate twice to take a good bite.
I can see her cheeks basically turn two apples red, she's so excited to be eating this. I guess it tastes really good.
I join her in eating it. And indeed, it does taste good. The cheese combined with the ham... my taste buds are being embraced by such a delicious taste.
After the lunch break, we both pick up where we left off. I'm glad to have raised Liselotte's spirits again.
-Please make me more like that in the future... I had forgotten what it was like to eat something so delicious.
-As long as you ask for it, honey~!
-Wah, we don't have that kind of relationship...!
Damn, she's cute when she's embarrassed... ugh, having that memory of Saeko's life made me realize that I have those preferences too.
I hadn't found out until just now...
-Uhum... Well, anything else you want to know?
Ah, right. Let's get out of the yuri mood.
-Is there such a thing as Eastern Ifgraine?
-... that's a difficult question...
-Olivia told me about a [Western Ifgraine], but she didn't mention anything about the [Eastern Ifgraine]. What about it?
-... Elise, look... when the 'Redhart Hunt' was a fact, we were all worried about how far their slaughter was going to spread. You know what happened with the dragons...
-Uh, yes...
-For killing the 'Dragon Queen', Elise Redhart released one of the entities we categorised as [Enemies of Humanity]. Currently, only the [Regents of Capital Sin], Enigma and you, can call ourselves that. But that is only among anthropomorphic entities.
Those of us who are human or look human....
-She released the [Chaos Dragon - Lucifer], a monster of unparalleled [Legendary] status who is humanity's greatest danger. With that, she managed to kill fifteen thousand men in a few seconds... and an entire region in the process.
I notice Liselotte's right hand trembling slightly. Her face has a more complicated expression than before. That indicates to me that she has very bad memories of that time.
I can't stop my curiosity now...
-And that was Eastern Ifgraine, wasn't it?
-It was horrible to see so many people die... and not be able to do anything to help them. I'm here today because Maxwell put an enchantment on my clothes to prevent any kind of harm.
...
-For years I was haunted by those memories, you know? I thought I'd forgotten that feeling... but I was wrong. Elise... if you ever get out of this dungeon, I'm asking you to kill that thing. Whatever it takes.
...
-Make amends for the mistake your ancestor made. And please take revenge for all the people who died that time.
-... understood...
Although she could kill him without a problem, but I understand that it's part of a trauma she possesses. I can't imagine what she went through at that time.
But I can understand it in a way.
My heart shattered after seeing how many [Beastmen] died because of me. All because of my selfishness and nobody else's selfishness. I could hardly bear to see the corpses of so many who perished in my name. Some of them were barely more than a pile of flesh.
-I suppose... you love this world? -. I say, in a low voice.
Liselotte answers me:
-Yes. Despite how imperfect it is, I love this world. -. She smiled, in a rather warm way.
Such a smile is that of a person who has seen enough of this world. And even though she has seen it, she does not deny it, nor does she hate it. This is pure affection.
-Well, leaving that subject aside.... What else can you tell me? Have there been other conflicts in this world?
-Not really. Territorial disputes have been resolved peacefully. We have no reason to attack each other, usually only defending each other when the [Demon Territory] attacks.
-I see. So there hasn't been anything like world wars?
-In your world there have been?
-Two, actually. And the second one only came about as an extended consequence of the first one, it's not even fifty years apart.
-Well... Did you live through any of them?
-No. I was born in a time when everything was peaceful... in fact, my country was the biggest loser in [World War II]. We got the worst part.
-How many died?
-Millions, and we still earned about several million from contamination because of the war.
Was it a decade...? I don't remember exactly how long Hiroshima and Nagasaki were actually uninhabitable. I was never very good at history.
-Is there anything you miss about your world...? No, well... like 'Nishimiya Saeko', not 'Elise'.
Uh, if you put it that way...
-I guess my aunt... and those I could call my friends in that world... those last ones have probably reincarnated in this one too, but I'm sure I'll never see them again.
-Your aunt... What was she like? She wasn't in your memory.
-My aunt... she was the only family I had... and I loved her as if she were my own mother. She always scolded me when I didn't leave my room because I was doing something else.
-...
-...
There was a brief moment of silence between them.
I guess Liselotte noticed the slight pain in my tone of voice when I spoke on that subject. These are Saeko's feelings, which extended to me. And it's natural for me to introduce myself that way.
She's basically my aunt too, okay? And that's something that will never change no matter what happens.
Suddenly Liselotte got up from her seat again. And this time she held out a hand to me.
Seeing that I was confused about whether to take her hand or not... she asks:
-Do you want to see your aunt again?
Her question came to me with surprise.
Her saying that caught me totally off guard, I had never thought of something like that.
-I ask you, do you want to see your aunt, 'Saeko'?
...
Liselotte... she really is the greatest ally I have...
-Yes... yes, I do want to see her...
-All right... Let's go and see her, 'Saeko'...
Liselotte's smile made me feel confident about this. And I could only reach out my hand to hold hers.
A second later, a light hovered over us...
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┈┈┈┈✦The [Space Magic] - [Travel Between Worlds] has been activated.
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